Carers

Anyone who has the enormous responsibility of caring for a person who is frail aged or disabled, finds their own needs often being put aside. You may be a parent, husband, wife, partner, son, daughter, family member or friend.

The Carer Services Program provides support for people who are caring for someone who is frail aged, has a disability or has memory loss. This free service, funded through the HACC program, is available for people living in the Woollahra, Waverley, Randwick, Botany and City of Sydney areas.

Support is offered by way of individual support and advocacy, carer groups, information forums, skills development and social days for carers. A major focus of the network is reaching carers through GPs, hospitals and pharmacists and linking them to available and appropriate support services. CarersPlus is a support group for parents of children under five with special needs and we also have groups for parents of older children and adults and for male carers. Ask about our programs by calling (02) 9302 3600 or info@holdsworth.org.au

At Holdsworth we also seek to promote recognition and understanding of a Carer’s role through Carers Week and other media opportunities.

Comments and feedback from people who use our services

If you are a carer the Carer Services Program can identify aged and disability support services and connect you to ones that are suitable for you. By looking after yourself, the person for whom you care will also benefit.

At annual fundraising cocktail party, held at Redleaf in February 2009, we launched our Holdsworth Care Fund, a new initiative designed to allow us do many special things for Carers and their families that are not otherwise funded by state and federal government programs. This might includes:

• Emergency funding of respite care for Carers in crisis when no other services are immediately available.
• Services funding to support Carers through access to extra counselling, therapy or allied health services for both themselves and the person for whom they are caring.
• Social Inclusion funding to give Carers the opportunity to re-charge their batteries through short breaks, outings, pampering and celebrating with other carers and their family members.

Donations to the Care Fund can be made here.

For more information about Services for Carers you can download a Brochure (PDF) or contact us at (02) 9302 3600 or info@holdsworth.org.au

Holdsworth Carer Resources

A range of Carer Resources has been donated by Holdsworth to augment the Waverley Library collection of informative books and audiovisual material for people who are caring for someone who is frail aged, has a disability or has memory loss. The Holdsworth Carer Resources project was launched in February 2010 and is held at Waverley Library , Denison St Bondi Junction.

You can download a list of some of the current resources held at the Library (as at February 2010) Carer Resources List (PDF).

Our Book of Carers' Stories

As part of our work with carers Holdsworth Community Centre & Services has been running writing workshops in which each person has been writing the story of his or her personal experiences as a carer of a family member – a child with a disability or a partner or parent with dementia. Tapping into their creative sides and working with professional writers has helped participants to acknowledgethe journey they have taken as carers and to confront with enthusiasm the wide range of emotions every carer has to deal with.

The result is a touching and inspiring book - Opening the Doors: the hidden life of carers - which we hope will be a valuable resource to other carers and increase community recognition of the importance of the carers’ role.

Opening the doors was launched on 21 October 2008 (see (MediaRelease) by Rev. Dorothy McRae- McMahon.

Cost $12 if collected from the Centre or $15 if mailed (incl. GST) Order Form

back to top